The rain fell like a curtain over the city, turning the streets into mirrors of yellow streetlights and broken reflections. At 11:47 PM, the silence of the upscale Green Valley neighborhood was shattered by a single gunshot.

Inside the grand bungalow of businessman Rajveer Malhotra, a glass lay shattered on the marble floor, whisky spreading like a dark stain. Rajveer himself lay near the study table, motionless, a bullet wound in his chest. His phone was still in his hand, the screen glowing with the words: “Call Ended – Unknown Number.”

Chapter 1: The Crime Scene

Inspector Arjun Verma arrived at the scene at midnight. He was known in the department for his calm mind and sharp observation. As he entered the study, he noticed something unusual.

No signs of forced entry.
No struggle.
No robbery.

This was not a random crime. This was a planned murder.

Arjun walked slowly around the room. The study table was neat, except for one open drawer. Inside it were files, property documents, and a small diary. The last page of the diary had only one line written:

“They are lying. I know the truth now.”

Arjun closed the diary slowly.

“Who found the body?” he asked.

“The servant, Ramesh,” replied the constable.

Ramesh, trembling, said, “Saab, I went to give tea… door was open… and Malik was on the floor…”

Arjun nodded. “Call records, CCTV footage, and everyone close to him. This was personal.”

Chapter 2: The Suspects

Rajveer Malhotra was a wealthy real estate businessman. Powerful, influential, and not exactly loved by everyone.

Three people quickly became suspects:

1.Karan Malhotra – Rajveer’s younger brother and business partner

2.Nisha Malhotra – Rajveer’s wife

3.Vikram Sethi – Former business partner who had a legal dispute with Rajveer

Inspector Arjun began with the family.

Karan Malhotra

Karan looked nervous but cooperative.

“Where were you last night?” Arjun asked.

“At home… I slept early.”

“Can anyone confirm that?”

“My wife.”

Arjun wrote something in his notebook. Alibis from family members were always weak.

Then he asked, “Did you and your brother have any business conflicts?”

Karan hesitated. “Every business has disagreements… but nothing serious.”

Arjun noticed sweat on his forehead despite the air conditioning.

Chapter 3: The Wife

Nisha Malhotra was calm. Too calm.

“Did your husband seem worried recently?” Arjun asked.

“Yes,” she said softly. “He was stressed about something. He kept saying someone had cheated him.”

“Did he mention who?”

“No.”

Arjun observed the room carefully. On the bedside table was a photograph of Rajveer and Nisha from years ago. They looked happy. But something felt off.

“Mrs. Malhotra, did your husband receive any calls last night?”

She paused for a second before answering. “I don’t know.”

That pause did not escape Arjun.

Chapter 4: The Call Records

The next morning, Arjun received Rajveer’s call records.

The last call at 11:46 PM was from a prepaid number registered under a fake name. But the number had been used frequently to call only one person apart from Rajveer.

Karan Malhotra.

Arjun leaned back in his chair.

“So the brother is hiding something,” he murmured.

He called Karan to the police station.

When confronted, Karan panicked.

“Yes, I spoke to him! But I didn’t kill him!”

“Then why use a fake number?” Arjun asked calmly.

Karan looked defeated. “Because we were secretly negotiating a land deal… If the board found out, I would be in trouble. But I swear I didn’t go to his house.”

Arjun believed he was telling the truth — at least about the murder.

But then another report arrived.

CCTV footage from the street outside the bungalow.

At 11:30 PM, a car entered the lane.
At 11:52 PM, the same car left.

The car belonged to Vikram Sethi.

Chapter 5: The Rival

Vikram Sethi was brought in for questioning.

“You had a legal dispute with Rajveer worth 50 crores,” Arjun said. “And your car was outside his house last night.”

Vikram didn’t look surprised. “Yes, I went to meet him. We were trying to settle the case.”

“What time did you leave?”

“11:40 PM.”

“But your car left at 11:52 PM,” Arjun replied.

Vikram froze.

“I… I sat in the car for some time… making calls.”

Arjun stared at him silently. Silence often made people nervous.

Finally Vikram said, “When I left the house, he was alive. We argued, yes, but I didn’t shoot him.”

“Did you see anyone else in the house?”

Vikram thought for a moment. “No… but the back door was open.”

That was new information.

Chapter 6: The Back Door

Arjun returned to the crime scene and checked the back door carefully. There were faint muddy footprints near the garden.

Not very clear, but enough to tell someone had entered from there.

“Check the servant,” Arjun said.

Ramesh was questioned again.

“Did you open the back door last night?”

“No saab… I locked everything at 10 PM.”

Arjun walked into the servant quarters and looked around. Everything looked normal — except for a pair of muddy shoes.

“Whose shoes are these?” Arjun asked.

Ramesh looked scared. “Mine… I went to the market in the evening.”

Arjun picked up the shoes and compared the sole pattern with the footprint photograph.

They matched.

But Arjun was not convinced yet. Something still didn’t fit.

“Ramesh earns 12,000 per month. Why would he kill a rich businessman?” Arjun thought.

Unless someone paid him.

Chapter 7: The Diary

Arjun reopened Rajveer’s diary and read the last line again:

“They are lying. I know the truth now.”

Inside the diary, he found earlier entries about business deals, meetings, and payments. One entry caught his attention.

“Transfer money through N.”

N?

Nisha?

Arjun immediately checked bank records.

Large amounts of money had been transferred from Rajveer’s company account to another account over the past year.

The account belonged to Nisha Malhotra.

Chapter 8: The Truth

Nisha was called to the police station again.

This time Arjun placed the bank statements in front of her.

She tried to stay calm, but her hands trembled.

“You were transferring company money to your personal account,” Arjun said quietly. “Rajveer found out, didn’t he?”

Tears formed in her eyes, but she said nothing.

“And you hired Ramesh to kill him.”

She suddenly shouted, “Yes! I did it!”

The room fell silent.

“He was going to send me to jail… he said he would destroy me… I only wanted to scare him… but Ramesh shot him…”

Ramesh, when confronted, confessed immediately.

“Madam gave me money… told me to enter from the back door… I hid in the study… when sahib came after talking on phone… I shot…”

Inspector Arjun closed the file slowly.

Case solved.

Chapter 9: The Last Twist

As Arjun was about to leave the station that night, he received the final forensic report.

The bullet recovered from Rajveer’s body did not match Ramesh’s gun.

Arjun stopped walking.

“If Ramesh didn’t shoot him… then who did?”

He reopened the case file again and looked at the timeline.

Vikram left at 11:40 PM.
Call ended at 11:46 PM.
Gunshot heard at 11:47 PM.
Car left at 11:52 PM.

Arjun immediately called Vikram back.

“You lied,” Arjun said. “You never left at 11:40.”

Vikram realized the game was over.

“Yes,” he said quietly. “I killed him.”

“Why?”

“He ruined my business, my reputation… everything. I went to settle the case, but we argued. I saw a gun in his drawer… I shot him in anger… Then I waited in the car to calm down before leaving.”

“So Ramesh entered later?” Arjun asked.

“Yes… I didn’t even see him.”

Arjun leaned back in his chair.

Two people planned the murder.
One person actually committed it.
And none of them knew about each other.

Ending

The case became one of the strangest cases in the city’s history — a murder where three people were guilty in different ways:

Nisha for planning the murder

Ramesh for attempting the murder

Vikram for actually committing the murder

Inspector Arjun closed the file with a final note:

“In this case, everyone wanted Rajveer Malhotra dead.
Only fate decided who would actually kill him.”

Outside, the rain started again, washing the city clean — but some crimes could never be washed away

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